Glimpses
of the PastPeople,
Places, and Things in Letchworth Park History

1st
New York Dragoons

Historical Marker at the Park's Parade
GroundsPhoto by Tom Breslin

This was the
first unit to train at Camp Williams. Their history is dramatic
and explains, to my way of thinking anyway, why theirs is the
most prominent monument in the area to honor these Civil War veterans.

Again we thank
the Castile Historic Society for providing us with the background
information that describes the actions of this unit. It is the
first ever report that I know of describing conflicting opinions
and resulting punishment of an Officer in this unit, who later
redeemed himself and ended up a Major General by April of 1865.

In July 0f
1862 the campaign of General McClellan on the peninsula, though
it was a gigantic effort, was a failure. A call was made for men
to recruit the depleted ranks of the regiments in the field to
check the progress of the Rebellion, retrieve the national prestige,
and demonstrate to the world the cohesive force of republican
institutions, says the text of the History of Wyoming County New
York. The need for a stronger force was recognized , and in response
to this call regiments sprang into existence as if by magic says
the history.

September 6th,
1862 the regiment, which when originally formed was known as the
130th NY Infantry, left Camp Williams at Portage for the seat
of war. Recruitment was fast and furious as evidenced by the fact
that a second unit, the 136th NY Infantry, departed Portage on
October 2, 1862, less than a month later.

Their train
traveled south through Pennsylvania to Harrisburg where they remained
two days under arms because of the threat that rebel cavalry raiding
in the area might attack the city. By Sept 13th they were at Suffolk
Virginia. They remained there into January of 1863 on picket duty,
building entrenchments, corduroy roads and burying the victims
of swamp fever. On Jan 29th they became part of a force of 3500
on an expedition that encountered a rebel force of 2500 advancing
on Suffolk, which they attacked and thus received their "baptism
under fire". In this situation Colonel Gibbs approached brigade
commander Corcoran and suggested that the infantry be moved from
behind the artillery where they were being slaughtered by rebel
artillery. Corcoran had him placed under arrest for his temerity
and had his sword and horse taken from him. Gibbs' wisdom was
soon demonstrated when Corcoran's own unit broke and fled in retreat
in such disorder Corcoran was forced to chase after them and was
gone from the area so no one was in command. Finally the ranks
themselves decided to charge and soon three regiments in line
of battle charged the enemy. Colonel Gibbs, under arrest as he
was, swordless and horseless seized the battle flag and led his
regiment in the attack. From then on every man in the unit was
ready to die for him.

Until July
of 1863 the unit fought as infantry. They transferred then to
the Army of the Potomac and were converted to cavalry. They trained
at Manassas Virginia until September and then returned to active
service. From this point on their exploits commonly describe the
unit as charging the enemy or being the front unit in various
battles. They were in support of General Meade who was falling
back from the Rapidan with Lee in pursuit. Their duty was flank
guard for the army so they were active in the area of Centerville,
Bull Run, and Manassas. October 17th they charged a rebel brigade
of cavalry and drove them to Bristoe Station inflicting considerable
losses. The following day the pursuit continued to the Rappahannock.
The Dragoons were very active in the effort to take Richmond.
Their activity is illustrated by this partial listing of their
engagements and the almost daily battle situations in 1864 as
follows:

Stannardsville,
Va

March
1, 1864

Todd's
Tavern

May7th

Spottsylvania

May
8th

Anderson's
Ridge

May
10th

Yellow
Tavern

May
11th

Meadow
Bridge

May
12th

Mechanicsville

May
12th

Hawes's
Shop

May
28th

Old
Church

May
30th

Cold
Harbor

May
31 or June 1

Trevillian
Station

June
11 and 12

Darby
Town

July
27 and 28

This kind of
action continued through 1864 and into 1865 when they were at
Appomattox Station and Appomattox Courthouse when Lee surrendered
on April 9th.

The Dragoons
were part of Sheridan's 10,000 cavalry that defeated and captured
the remnants of Early's forces at Waynesboro, crossed the Blue
Ridge at Rockfish Gap, turned and destroyed the Virginia Central
railroad from Frederick's Hall to Beaver Dam, and won the decisive
victory at Five Forks on the 1st of April. From that time till
the 9th the cavalry were in daily action inflicting on the rebel
army the blows which so rapidly crippled it and brought on its
final catastrophe, the surrender of Lee's army and the end of
the conflict .

The reports
in the History of Wyoming County, The History of Allegany County,
and the History of Livingston County all describe the unit action
in about the same terms as very often being the lead unit in charges
against the rebel forces that sent them into retreat.